Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A little less than two weeks ago, the NWT and all Regular Members woke up to news reports that more than 30 employees were critically exposed to arsenic at the Giant Mine remediation site. At this point, we have no idea how these employees were exposed, how long they were exposed, when this government and WSCC were notified of this incident and, more importantly, what is being done.

Why do Members of the House and the people of the Northwest Territories have to be notified via surprise media reports of such disasters? Why do we have to hear quotes from the president of...

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. On December 29, 2013, at approximately 3:40 p.m., a complete blackout occurred in Yellowknife, Behchoko and Detah.

Please provide a complete chronology of events in the aftermath of this outage, including all equipment system failures, internal and external communications, steps taken in the aftermath, feedback and any improvements of conditions as a direct result of this outage.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. It’s good to hear that we’re still on target for costs. It appears that there are still some chipseal requirements to be done. I took a drive the other day and there seems to be some temporary electrical work there. So, obviously, we’re waiting for some electrical work, and it does appear that some of the guardrails may be still missing here.

Can the Minister indicate to the House who is assuming legal responsibility for this road if there’s still work to be done? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The construction of the new Highway No. 7, No. 4 bypass on Ingraham Trail started in October 2012. Work continued through the winter of 2012-13 and into the summer of 2013. Now, I’ve been critical of this project from the onset, for good reason. At approximately $2.5 million per kilometre made this one of the most expensive pieces of road construction in the NWT. With delays and the opening almost four months overdue, it does beg me to ask questions to the Minister of Transportation for some clarification.

The construction of Baker Creek Bridge started approximately in...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Northwest Territories is proudly represented by three of its finest athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Please join me once again in recognizing the achievements of Yellowknife speed skater Michael Gilday, cross-country skier Jesse Cockney and Hay River biathlete Brendan Green.

Not far behind them are the young athletes counting down the days to the Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks, Alaska. Each one of these Olympians got their start at the Arctic Winter Games and, more importantly, at NWT schools.

This past year the Yukon government...

Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yesterday, we were witness to the 2014-2015 budget address. Like many, we heard the trumpets of fiscal balance, consecutive surpluses and, of course, the heralded no new taxes icing on the cake.

As Northerners, we have come to tolerate and unwillingly accept long discoursed narratives of cheap demagoguery and over-the-top rhetoric when it comes to our finances. Of course, it sounds impressive or if it’s in a colourful binder full of impressive graphs and pie charts, it must be accurate, right? Sadly, the people have limited options to believe otherwise as they are...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, I just wanted to make sure that liability, if there was ever indeed an issue on this road, if we’re still waiting for pieces of pertinent parts of this road to be completed, that the taxpayers won’t be having any type of surprises in the near future. That leads me to my final question.

When can we expect a full assessment of this project being presented to this House of its total completion? Thank you.

Thank you. Sorry, I may have said Highway No. 7 earlier. Sorry. Freudian slip. Highway No. 4 bypass. Sorry to the Member.

I appreciate the Minister’s response here, but we know that the designs of bridges are very, very intricate. There’s a lot of engineering designs, it has to go through a flurry of testing before this bridge would be put on any type of abutments or any type of structure. From the sounds of it, it almost sounds like what the Minister tried to elaborate – and I may be wrong in assuming – that this thing almost went in backwards.

Now, if indeed I’m in error, I’d ask the Minister...